ITU Ixtapa Manana!

On the eve of yet another ITU race, I find myself in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. On the flight down, I happened to sit next to a family friend who was heading down for a surfing excursion. I soon found out from him that Zihuatanejo was currently getting hit with a 10-18 foot swell (which would explain the hoards of surfers on my flight)!!

I’m staying at the host hotel right in the center of it all and that has proved to be a good decision, as it is quite chaotic down here and it makes my job a whole lot easier to figure out where to go.

A pretty good sized pro field (roughly 60 competitors) and a somewhat unconventional bike course, at least for the ITU standard. Instead of the usual 8 laps of 5km, it will be 2 laps of 20km, so this should make for yet another fulfilling ITU experience!

I have to get to the athlete briefing but I wanted to drop you all a line first. Gun goes off tomorrow at 10:30am (8:30PST) and I will be sure to write a post-race report as soon as I get a chance.

Wish me luck! Talk soon!

-HH

Ocean Swims are BACK!

There is simply nothing like starting off your day with a plunge into the Pacific Ocean. After much anticipation (at least by yours truly), the exciting Wednesday morning Ocean Speed Circuit swims have finally returned! A number of crazed, sleep deprived triathletes and swimmers alike, braved the 57 degree waters last week, and then again this week. Only this time, we were greeted with a playful school of dolphins, yearning for us to come and join them out by the turn-around buoy!

One might ask, "why in the hell would someone get up at 5:30 so that they could go jump in sub-60 degree ocean water by 6:30?!" And I might respond, "because it's what we do. There's no rhyme or reason, it's just part of the multi-sport lifestyle!"

A friend of mine aptly put it, " man, when you dive through that first wave and that cold water hits your face, it is quite a shock! It takes about 3/4 of a lap to get warm!"


Yes, perhaps the first couple (more like 5 or 6) Wednesday swims, the sheer thought of jumping into the water barely before sun rise sends a shiver down your spine. But, as the season begins to change from late spring to early summer, the water gets warmer, the crowd of crazed individuals becomes vast and more enthusiastic, and what we're doing down on the Santa Monica beach at the crack of dawn soon lends a response to the question, "why in the hell?!" -- BECAUSE IT'S WHAT WE DO!!

EFA Race Report!

Just finished Escape from Alcatraz on a picturesque day in the best city in the world! While I didn't quite reach my goal (top 10), I finished 12th in a time of 2:09:29 and was really pleased with my overall effort.

The swim was super fast this year and I attribute that to the current, NOT to my 40K yard swim weeks! Came out of the water only 4:30 back from the leaders this year, as opposed to 9 minutes last year. My new Xterra Vendetta wetsuit got a little caught up on my timing chip in T1 but I was quickly off to the races in no time!

Despite the fact that most of my training has been focused on the swim, my bike split was roughly 75 seconds faster than last year! The run was a little funky for me for some reason. I was basically two minutes slower than last year and that is probably due to a couple of reasons. One, my runs have not been quality-oriented as of late, because of the emphasis on my swim training. Two, last week in Florida I felt like I lost a lot of steam in the latter half of the run and I didn't want that to happen today so I went out probably too conservatively. And three, I felt like the beach portion of the run this year was A LOT tougher than last year, especially the first part of the dreaded sand ladder. Speaking of which, I was 1 SECOND away from winning the sand ladder time bonus! Just my luck!

All in all, I feel really great about my performance today and every race I'm creeping up on the winners slowly but surely!

Results can be found here:

http://alcatraz.onlineraceresults.com/search.php

Next up for me is another ITU race in Ixtapa, Mexico on the 22nd of May. Till then!

Oh! Thank you all for the kind supportive notes prior to the race and for the congratulatory notes after the race! It is truly motivational!

Talk soon!

-HH

In SF for EFA!

Hey!

I arrived in San Fran this morning, anxiously awaiting the start of my favorite triathlon, Escape from Alcatraz! The forecast for the weekend is blue skies and warm - that's always a plus when having to brave 55 degree water temperatures!

The gun goes off Sunday morning at 8 down at the Marina Green. We start off by braving the icy bay waters for a 1.5 mile swim. Then 18 miles of biking, riddled with classic SF city hills and finally an 8 mile run through the historic presidio forest which includes a daring ascent up what is known as the 'sand ladder'. The sand ladder is such a monumental piece of this course that they award the pro with the fastest split from the bottom to the top!

I competed here last year for the first time and upon completion I truly felt like a triathlete, more so than any other race. I'm really looking forward to toeing the line with the world's best on Sunday. The field is stacked! Potts, Kemper, Docherty - they're all showing up! Game time!

I'll write up a full report as soon as I get a chance. Wish me luck!

Thanks for checking in. Talk soon!

-HH

New Performance Nutrition and Evolution PT

While all of my sponsors play a pivotal role in the success of my triathlon career, I wanted to plug two in particular that really keep my gears well-oiled and moving in the right direction.

For the last 16 years, New Performance Nutrition has provided custom nutrition programs and products to all sorts of clients, whether it be pro-triathletes and cyclists, or those that want to curb health risks such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiac risk. Their motto is simply, "stay pure". As such, their products and supplements reach a level of quality, performance and peace of mind one won't find anywhere else. NPN's products range from whey protein to energy bars to supplements and vitamins. My favorite product is called Super Charge which is great to use when you want to "supercharge" the muscle with accessible energy (glycogen) and really perform beyond your standards during workouts and especially on race day! Whether a consultation meets your fancy or if you would prefer to purchase the pharmaceutical-grade products online, visit newpfc.com for more information. You can also follow them on facebook at New Performance Nutrition.

Darwin Fogt, the President of Evolution Physical Therapy has created an unrivaled PT facility in Playa Vista, CA that caters to any and all needs. If you're recovering form knee surgery, go see Darwin. If you're suffering from rotator cuff syndrome, go see Darwin. If you simply need to unwind in a yoga session during your lunch hour, go see Darwin! Evolution PT has state-of-the-art equipment and facilities, including my favorite machine, the Anti-gravity treadmill (G-trainer).
Even if you don't have an injury and want to try a really cool machine, give Darwin a call and sign up for the g-trainer. I use Darwin and his facilities on a bi-weekly basis and I will continue to indefinitely. Check him out at evolution-pt.com and follow him on facebook at Evolution Physical Therapy and Fitness.

That's all for now. Talk soon!

-HH

Overall a TOUGH weekend..

It started with a quasi-terrorist threat on my flight out to Tampa, which resulted in an emergency landing in New Mexico and a subsequent three hour delay. In addition, there was a one year old who cried bloody murder in the row in front of me the ENTIRE red-eye flight.

I broke my goggles the day before the race and had to frantically search the expo for a comparable pair. Later that day at the athlete briefing, I found out my USAT elite membership had expired and I was unable to race. After bickering with a stubborn official, who took his job way too seriously, I was finally able to renew my membership (only after writing a $100 check) and thus cleared to race.

When I toed the line at 6:52am on Sunday, I should have known based on what I had already endured that weekend, this was not going to be the best race of my life. And with that, it was NOT. Instead, it was a sub-par race, and one in which I could never find a rhythm. I finished 22nd in 1:59:53 and felt completed defeated.

But wait, the weekend wasn’t over. The next morning, my 7am flight was cancelled and I was re-routed to Atlanta where I would subsequently sit standby on three flights before I was able to go home. After 6 hours at the Atlanta airport, I was finally heading home! I arrived in LA 17 hours after the fact, only to find that my luggage and bike box had been displaced somewhere in the Midwest!

I write this now a day later. I’m home, my bag and bike box were just delivered, and I’m about to go to bed and wake up for the start of this year’s Santa Monica ocean speed circuits and I couldn’t be happier!

I’m heading up north later this week for my favorite race, Escape from Alcatraz, and I already know it will be a better experience than Florida, for I’m driving not flying!

Thanks for checking in, talk soon!

-HH

Another successful ITU race in the bag!

Hey everyone!

ITU Mazatlan was a success! I finished 23rd with a time of 1:58:32 and thankfully this time, my legs actually chose to properly function coming off the bike!

Consisting of a stacked field with at least three former Olympians by my count (J. Shoemaker, V. Plata, F. Serrano), today’s race was fixing to be a tough one!

Going into my South America tour in January, I was coming off a Christmas break where I was all over the map visiting friends and family. With that, I didn’t really have a consistent amount of training under my belt as I headed south of the equator. This time however, I had a solid 8 weeks of training at my home-base in Los Angeles. Though of course as luck would have it, as my fitness improved, so did my competition in Mazatlan.

The swim course consisted of two laps and an exit/re-entry after the first lap. The conditions were choppy and as the day went on, the wind picked up. I tried a different, swim warm-up this time and it worked beautifully. I didn’t blow up in the first 200 yards as I have in the past, I felt like my pacing was stronger and more consistent than it had ever been. I came out of the water in 48th (out of 52) with a split of 22:04, 3:18 off the leader.

The bike course consisted of 6 flat, out-and-back laps, with a nasty head wind going north. To give you an idea how nasty it was, I clocked my pack riding on average 20/21mph into the wind and 28/29mph with the wind! So, I jumped on my bike and bridged up to Ryan Borger (USA) and two Mexican competitors. Together we bridged up to Americans Jimmy Archer and Sean Jefferson and started working pretty well together. I was so elated to find myself in a pack with Americans, with whom I could communicate, as opposed to yelling “vamos” a hundred times! We then picked up two or three other competitors, one of whom was Victor Plata (USA). Going into T2, I split a 1:03:27 on the bike (which I believe was a touch long, based on my Powertap readings) and was off to the races cramp-free!

The run course consisted of 4 flat, 2.5km, out-and-back laps. By this point it was 1pm and temperatures were easily in the high-80s. Coming out of T2, Sean Jefferson (multi All-American and mile best of 3:56) and I hooked up and ran the entire way shoulder to shoulder. I was able to count the number of competitors in front of us on the first lap and we were sitting in 38th and 39th. My legs felt great and I was at complete ease during the first half of the run. I started to feel our pace a little in the third lap and even more in the fourth. On the final lap, I had lost track of how many people we had gobbled up and now it was a mano a mano battle! What I live for! Half way through the last lap, I could feel our pace quicken and we were still, literally, shoulder to shoulder. With about 300 meters to go (or so I thought), I quickened my cadence for just a couple of steps and saw Jefferson’s shadow fall a little behind. So I picked it up more! And then more! And what I thought was the finishing arch, was actually a fake and the real arch was another 50 yards past that!! I thought to myself, “holy *&#@! I went too soon!” So I gave it one last, desperate push, and crossed the tape just ahead of my worthy opponent! Yes!!! I split a 31:36, second to only Jarrod Shoemaker and had passed 16 people to claim 23rd!

If you all recall, I split a 36:50 off the bike in my first ITU race, because my legs were shot. With that being said, Jefferson did a fantastic job and I’m sure he will return the favor in due time as I anticipate a great rivalry with him for years to come!!

My goal going into this race was to score some points and there are two criteria that you must meet in order to do so. One, you need to finish in the top 20. Two, your finishing time needs to be within 5% of the winner’s time. With that being said, I did not meet my goal, as I finished 22nd (among Pan-American competitors) and 4.4% off the winner’s time but in hindsight, the competition here was better than one would find at most Continental Cup races, so I feel pretty pleased with my end result!

My next race will be another match up with Sean Jefferson in his home state at the St. Anthony’s triathlon in April. Check back soon for training updates!

Thanks again for all the supportive emails, texts and phone calls, it is truly motivating!

Talk soon!

-H